Junior School

As we approach the mid-way point of Term 1, I’d like to congratulate the Junior Schoolers on a great start to Years 7 and 8. I hope that our community is satisfied with the experience so far at St Partrick’s College – we want every boy to enjoy their time at school and to have fun engaging with their peers and staff in a collaborative and respectful manner. 

As you will appreciate, it has been a busy start to the term. However, the last couple of weeks have been relatively routine which has allowed the Junior School to operate uninterrupted. As a result, there has been increased time for students to develop rapport with their peers and staff, and for Homeroom Teachers to check in with their class to support them from a wellbeing and academic perspective. 

GRIT Awards

GRIT is perseverance and passion. I’ve mentioned to the boys that in my opinion, one of the best qualities someone can possess is GRIT. Being able to persevere,  work through challenges or things that aren’t desirable and be resilient are attributes necessary to leading a successful life. Demonstrating GRIT doesn’t always come easy, but we can learn how to become more “gritty”. In my Crest article last week, I introduced the fortnightly GRIT award – an initiative implemented in the Junior School. Congratulations to the following students who received the GRIT award in the last fortnight:

We look forward to the next round of GRIT recipients being recognised.

Sport in the Junior School

The Junior School was well represented in the St Patrick’s College Athletics Team which competed at the ACC Athletics Carnival. My understanding is that the day was a great success for St Patrick’s College and that the Junior School students competed well. Congratulations to the following students for their involvement as either a competitor on the day or as emergency. 

A particular mention to the following students for outstanding performances: Luke Irvin (1st U14 400 and 800m) Ollie Ryan (1st U13 High Jump and 1500m), Joaquin Flores (1st U13 100m) and Jack Ward (1st U13 200m). 

The Junior School’s very own Mrs Amanda Rossato is one of the staff members involved in the Athletics team so a big thanks to Mrs Rossato for her support as well as to the other members of St Patrick’s College staff who led the team on the day. 

It’s also great to hear how well the Year 7 and 8 students are contributing to the co-curricular program should it be in the cricket, baseball, chess, debating and/or performing arts programs. On a different note, can I encourage correspondence from the Junior School community regarding any achievements of your son(s). It is important to recognise and celebrate the efforts of our students in co-curricular activities either in or outside of school. 

Head of the Lake

Sunday was an incredible day for the entire St Patrick’s College Community. Congratulations to the students of the SPC rowing program. Commendations to the coaches and families for the incredible contributions to preparing the boys for this day since the first days of Term 3. Rowing is available as a sport for students to elect in Year 8 (Term 3 onwards); however, sometimes Year 7 students can get involved as coxswains. The Junior School were represented at the Head of the Lake this year by Lawson Goodall, Elroy Monk, Taj Boatman, George Muller and Jonty Woodburn. These boys joined the program as Year 7 students in Term 3 last  year. Well done, boys on a great season and a great day last Sunday.

Pastoral Care Lesson – Thursday

During the scheduled Pastoral Care lesson yesterday, the Year 7 students were together for their first assembly as a cohort. Mrs Burge and Mrs Dodd, the Year 7 Coordinators and myself shared with the boys many of the positive observations so far:

• Uniform: both academic and PE uniform are being worn respectably and at the appropriate time e.g. when a student has Health class, they shouldn’t be in their PE uniform
• Homework: routines surrounding homework completion are improving
• Co-curricular: great to see so many Year 7 students involved in the co-curricular program
• Students engaging with their peers during break time e.g. using the library to read and/or play chess, playing downball in Kelty Court or using the Shed Oval space to play soccer and other ball games
• Etiquette: General manners have been well received such as thanking teachers after their class

We also addressed some areas of focus for the remaining weeks of term:

• Respecting the Hands–Off rule: tackling, wrestling and such behaviours aren’t tolerated
• Language: the boys were reminded about the need to keep their language respectful. Swearing is not the only example to reference. Put-downs and un-savoury comments have no place at St Patrick’s. The things we say to each other matter and are taken literally by the staff
• Effort: The efforts of the Year 7 students cannot be questioned; however, we want our boys to demonstrate this through to the very last lesson of Term 1.

The Year 8 students completed a lesson during this time, with the focus being on digital literacy and compulsive design. The lesson focussed on the use of our devices and encouraged the students to explore their own experiences with how dependent they are on their device, e.g. how many hours do they use their device each day, do they feel the compulsive urge to always check their device for notifications etc. 

Coming up

Please see below, the following events that are approaching and that are relevant to the Junior School community:

Friday, 15 March: St Patrick’s Day Celebration 

An important, eventful and collegial date on the School Calendar. I look forward to our Junior Schoolers involvement.

Monday, 18 March–Wednesday 20 March: Year 8 Camp

Camp is fast approaching and is promising to be a great experience for our students. A reminder that all information regarding the camp was communicated via PAM. I will send out a reminder in the next week or two for our Year 8 families.

Monday, 25 March: Elevate Education

Year 7 students will complete a 60-minute workshop with the staff from Elevate Education. Year 7 families will have received this information yesterday. 

Thanks once again to the amazing students, families and staff involved in the Junior School at St Patrick’s for the great contributions to Term 1 so far. 

Have a great weekend everyone.

— Tom Nash, Head of Junior School

Margie Dodd and Jacinta Burge, Year 7 Coordinators

Sam Cue and John Hearn, Year 8 Coordinators